Refrigerated display case



July 8, 1941. E. E. SANDERS REFRIGERATED DISPLAY CASE Filed Aug. 50, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FlG.l.

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ATTORNEYS July 8, 1941. E. E. SANDERS 2,248,286

REFRIGERATED DI SPLAY CASE Filed Aug. 30, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOK ERNEST asmoens 1. 3 ,5 M

ATTORNEYS Patented July 8, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,248,286 REFRIGERATED DISPLAY CASE Ernest E. Sanders, Detroit, Mich. Application August 30, 1939, Serial No. 292,691

- 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to refrigerated food display cases, particularly designed for the display of fresh vegetables though they may be used for other foods if desired.

Among the objects of the invention is a refrigerated display case of the self-serve type, in which a customer may inspect and select without the presence of a store attendant.

Another object is a display case of this type which may remain open without a substantial decrease in efilciency.

Still another object is a display case in which none of the contents is more than a few inches distant from a cooling element.

other objects will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a involving the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the case.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through one of the partitions.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the refrigerating element.

Figure 5 is a view of the header with the cover removed, and

Figure. 6 is a section on line 6-43 of Figure 2.

In the drawings the case is shown as being conventionally constructed at the bottom and ends, in that it has outer and inner sheathing Ill-ll with insulation l2 between them. The rear wall of the case is likewise constructed and is without the usual doors, these, It, being in the low front wall It.

Supported by the low front wall and the back wall is an inclined partition l5, forming the celling of the storage compartment IS in the lower part and the bottom or floor of the display section ll, upon which may be placed removable false bottom members l5b.

The display section I! is surrounded by the back wall, the ends of the case, and a glass front 20 extending upward from front wall I4 to apdisplay case proximately the height of the rear wall, While the open top thus provided is partially covered by a glass cover member 2 I, leaving a large opening 22 through which easy access to the interior of space ll may be had.

Refrigeration of the storage compartment l6 may be had by mounting upon the walls thereof one or more refrigerating coils-25.

As will be seen best in Figures 1 and 6, the space ll will be divided, in its lower part upon the floor I5, into a plurality of bins or sections 30, by fixed partitions 3|. and the bins 30 may be subdivided by movable partitions 32.

The fixed partitions 3| form a part of the refrigerating means for compartment l1 and in order to do so are made of sheet metal and hollow, as indicated in Figures 3, 4 and 6, and serve as containers for brine, alcohol, or other cold storage liquid 35.

Partitions 3| open into a header 36 in which is located a refrigerating coil 31, the header, containing the coil, and the partitions being constructed to form a unit and after filling with the cold storage liquid, sealed except for the pipe leads 31a connected to a suitable compressor unit.

The sealed refrigerant unit, shown in Figure 4,

' is placed in compartment l1 and supported in such fashion that it is inclined as shown in Figure 2 and is spaced a short distance from floor l5. (See Fig. 3 at l5a.) By so placing the unit in an inclined position, eflicient circulation of the liquid in the partitions and of air around the partitions is assured.-

It will be noted that the opening 22 through which access is had to compartment I1 is at substantially the extreme height of the case and horizontally placed, while a suitable closure may obviously be provided, it is however, possible to leave this open without substantial interference with the maintenance of suitable temperatures in the compartment l'l, since there can be little or no outflow of the. heavier cold air.

The arrangement of doors l3 in the front wall permits positioning of the case against a building wall while allowing access to compartment Now having described the invention and a preferred embodiment thereof, what is claimed is:

1. In a refrigerated display case having heat insulated walls enclosing its bottom and sides and divided into an upper and lower compartmerit, refrigerating means in the upper compartment, said means being in the form of a header having downwardly inclined parallel, relatively thin,,wide members, said header and members dividing said upper compartment into a plurality of inclined bins.

2. In a refrigerated display case, an upper, at least. partially glass-enclosed compartment having an opening in its upper portion, the edges of in said header, the coil, header and members constituting a unitary structure, said header and members having sealed therein a body of cold storing liquid.

3. In a refrigerated display case, a display com-,

said floor, a header into which the hollow partitions open, said header extending lengthwise of the case at the upper ends of said partitions, said header and par! ,ions being substantially filled with cold storage liquid, and a refrigerating coil enclosed in said header.

4. A refrigerated display case having its side walls terminating at the top in a substantially horizontal plane and divided into a. lower and an upper compartment, the dividing means being sloped toward the front, means for dividing the upper compartment into a plurality of bins, the latter means consisting of hollow sheet metal partitions enclosing refrigerant and heat insulating means constituting the rear, end and bottom walls of said case and the front wall of the lower compartment, the front wall of the upper compartment being of transparent material.

ERNEST E. SANDERS. 

